fixpafandomcom-20200216-history
Childrens Hospital Foundation
Insights News in June 2009 2 more leaving Children's Hospital Foundation :June 14, 2009 By Steve Twedt, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Two more top officials are leaving the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation, the primary fund-raising arm for Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. Chairman Catharine Ryan and Executive Vice President Kimberly Hammer have both resigned, moves that follow closely on the heels of Foundation President Roger Oxendale's announcement in early June 2009 that he will be stepping aside at year's end, as 2009 concludes. Children's Hospital spokesman Marc Lukasiak said that the three resignations were unrelated. Mr. Oxendale, who also is vacating his position as CEO for the hospital, said last week he decided the foundation would benefit from someone better suited to fund-raising. Meanwhile, "Catharine Ryan has been a board member for 13 years and became board chair in 2007," Mr. Lukasiak said. "Her term as board chair was set to end in October 2009. Because her husband was retiring, Catharine spoke with other board leaders and made the decision to step down early." Ms. Hammer, who joined the foundation in April 2008, will be taking a development position with the Pittsburgh Promise in August, he said. Attempts to reach the two women were unsuccessful and Mr. Oxendale was unavailable. News of the departures of three key personnel come barely a month after the opening of the new Children's campus in Lawrenceville and may portend other changes at the foundation's Strip District headquarters. The foundation, which employs 27 people, was formed in July 2000 -- a year before UPMC purchased the hospital -- to raise funds to help advance, promote and support Children's as well as promote scientific research. In fiscal 2008, the foundation allocated $29 million to the hospital. Tax forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service show the foundation made $12.5 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, a significant drop from the $30 million it made the year before. In the fiscal years ending in 2006 and 2005, the foundation had profits of $18.2 million and $19.5 million respectively. The forms also show a $39.7 million loss in the foundation's investment portfolio in the fiscal year ended June 2008 -- and that was before the market crash last fall. Without providing more current specifics on foundation investments, Mr. Lukasiak said, "Our portfolio has and continues to perform as well as, and in some cases better than, the portfolios of other major foundations, corporations and universities in Pittsburgh." The foundation raises money for Children's Hospital through a variety of events. Tax forms for fiscal 2008 reported that four golf events netted $190,104 for the foundation in 2007-08. "All other events," as the category is listed on the form, brought in $44,124. But since those cost $41,279 to host, the other events netted only $2,845 for the foundation. Mr. Lukasiak said that was "a catch-all category" that included small fund-raisers including one other golf tournament. In 2006-07, the foundation raised $204,866 for what Mr. Lukasiak said was "a donor cultivation and thank-you event" when the Broadway production of "High School Musical" came to Pittsburgh. The event cost the foundation $154,866, for a net gain of $50,860. "It was a very successful event in terms of identifying new donors and from a fund-raising standpoint," he said. http://post-gazette.com/pg/09165/977079-28.stm#ixzz0IRV2fcGD&D